Does Indiana present specific challenges he will be needed for?
Will the Boston Celtics need Latvian big man Kristaps Porzingis in the Eastern Conference finals vs. the Indiana Pacers? The Celtics survived much of their first round series with the Miami Heat and their entire Eastern Conference semifinals series with the Cleveland Cavaliers without the star center’s services. Can they weather the Pacers sans KP, or does Indiana present specific challenges he will be needed for?
The eponymous host of the CLNS Media “Cedric Maxwell” podcast weighed in on the topic while discussing the East semis series vs. the Pacers and the New York Knicks with cohost Josue Pavon.
Take a look at the clip embedded below to hear Max’s opinion on the necessity of KP’s presence in the next round.
It’s probably really hard to feel this way after losing a Game 7 at home, but this season legitimately was successful for the New York Knicks. They had their best regular-season record in a decade-plus. Perhaps more importantly, they were on the verge of an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals despite a rash of injuries to several key players up and down the roster.
Unless you win the last game of the year, it’ll always be hard to reflect on a sports season as a success. But I have a feeling Brunson will eventually feel differently about this year for the Knicks. And he should.
What would an Indiana Pacers – Boston Celtics Eastern Conference finals look like? To find out, CLNS Media’s Bobby Manning welcomes Scott Agness to the “Garden Report” podcast before the New York Knicks – Pacers Game 6 to talk about what an Indiana-Boston East finals would look like.
The Pacers played the Celtics tough during the regular season, beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round and have challenged New York in the second round. They’ve gotten inconsistent play from Tyrese Haliburton, strong Aaron Nesmith and Myles Turner minutes, while Pascal Siakam joined the team at the trade deadline and brought championship experience. Boston gets a week off before the East finals with Kristaps Porzingis’ status uncertain.
Take a look at the clip embedded below to hear their talk!
We have yet to learn who the Celtics’ opponent in the Eastern Conference finals will be between the Knicks and the Pacers.
Even after 6 games of their Eastern Conference semifinals series, we have yet to learn who the Boston Celtics’ opponent in the Eastern Conference finals will be between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers. While we wait for a decisive Game 7 on Sunday (May 19), we can look back on the series to date to determine which of the two ball clubs is a better matchup for the Celtics.
The hosts of the CLNS Media “Garden Report” podcast, Bobby Manning, and Josue Pavon, linked up with Celtics Blog’s Noa Dalzell to talk all things Knicks or Pacers in the East finals.
Take a look at the clip embedded below to hear what they had to say about which team they prefer Boston to play in the next round.
Now that the Boston Celtics have defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA’s 2024 Eastern Conference series, they now turn their attention to the other East semis series currently underway. That would be the series between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks, the winner of which will be the Celtics’ opponent in the 2024 Eastern Conference finals.
The hosts of the CLNS Media “How Bout Them Celtics!” and “Talkin’ Cs” podcasts, Jack Simone, Sam LaFrance, and Bobby Krivitsky, recently took some time to talk over which of the two East ball clubs they would rather see Boston play in the next round of the playoffs.
Thanks to Al Horford and some more heroics from Jayson Tatum, Boston is headed to the NBA’s 2024 Eastern Conference finals.
Thanks to veteran Boston Celtics big man Al Horford and some more heroics from star Celtics small forward Jayson Tatum, Boston is headed to the NBA’s 2024 Eastern Conference finals to face the winner of the Eastern Conference semifinals series between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks.
After punching their ticket to the East finals with a 113-89 Game 5 win over a banged up Cleveland Cavaliers ball club on this past (May 15) Wednesday night, Tatum said (via the Associated Press) “It just shows the character of the team, the organization. People might think it’s a given we’re supposed to be here.”
The hosts of the CLNS Media “Garden Report” podcast, Bobby Manning, Josue Pavon, Jimmy Toscano, A. Sherrod Blakely and John Zannis, took a closer look at the series clincher postgame. Check it out below!
Are the Celtics ready for the next round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs?
How are fans of the Boston Celtics feeling about a return to the Eastern Conference finals? After beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games in their 2024 Eastern Conference semifinals series, the Celtics await the winner of the New York Knicks – Indiana Pacers East semis series.
Are the Celtics ready for the next round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs? Do they need the Knicks – Pacers series to go to 7 games to give Boston a chance to rest and star Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis a chance to heal from his strained right soleus? And which of the two potential opponents in the next round might give Boston fits?
The hosts of the CLNS Media “Still Poddable” podcast, Brian Robb, Sam Packard, and Jay King, dug into the mailbag to see how Celtics fans feel about everything from the Cavs to the next round of the playoffs. Check it out below!
Let’s talk about the Al Horford game, the Cavs series, and what comes next.
The Boston Celtics have defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-98 in Game 5 of their 2024 Eastern Conference semifinals series to advance to the NBA’s 2024 Eastern Conference finals. It came via a massive game from veteran Boston big man Al Horford, and it also saw perhaps the best postseason play from star Celtics forward Jayson Tatum as well.
As an added bonus, the team will get a bit of rest while they wait to learn their opponent in the next round from the New York Knicks – Indiana Pacers series. How do we feel about the East semis victory? Do we have any lingering concerns for the next round? When do we think Kristaps Porzingis will return to the court? Who will Boston play, and who do we want them to play?
The hosts of the “Celtics Lab” podcast sat down after the win to talk about all of the above. Take a look at the clip embedded below to hear what they had to say about the Al Horford game, the Cavs series, and what comes next.
The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Prize Picks and Gametime.
The Knicks are one win away from reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000 after a 121-91 win over the Pacers. Jalen Brunson again led New York with 44 points, 28 of them in the first half, and seven assists while Josh …
The Knicks are one win away from reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000 after a 121-91 win over the Pacers.
Jalen Brunson again led New York with 44 points, 28 of them in the first half, and seven assists while Josh Hart added 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Tyrese Haliburton had a quiet night with 13 points and five assists as Indiana was outrebounded 29-53.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the Knicks pivotal win:
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thank you so much for rocking with us this morning. We appreciate you.
Rick Carlisle is a veteran NBA coach who has been around the block more than a few times. This guy knows what he’s doing. That’s why I could only let out a chuckle when I watched his postgame press conference calling out the officials after Game 2 between the Knicks and Pacers.
“I can promise you that we’re going to submit these tonight,” Carlisle told reporters after the game. “New York can get ready. They’ll see ’em too. I’m always talking to our guys about not making it about the officials, but we deserve a fair shot.”
This is a veteran coaching move by Carlisle. We always see this in the NBA — especially during the playoffs. When a team feels it’s being wronged by the officials, it voices a complaint to sway the whistle further to its side the next game. It usually comes from the team down in the series.
But guess what? Every team tracks these “bad” calls for this reason. So when it comes time to submit something to the league and complain to get a better whistle, they can do it.
If New York wanted to counter with its file, I’m almost certain it could. The Knicks would probably have some legitimate gripes in there, too. Because that’s the thing about bad officiating — it usually goes both ways.
Officials aren’t perfect. They’re bound to make mistakes and be inconsistent. It always happens. Sometimes, that inconsistency comes at the wrong time. But that doesn’t mean the NBA has some sort of conspiracy going to get the Knicks to the Finals.
The Knicks have just been better. Period. New York is playing, like, seven dudes right now and OG Anunoby will probably miss some time with that hamstring injury.
Still, New York is outhustling Indiana. They’re beating them on the glass. I mean, Josh Hart is literally sneaking through crowds of Pacers and stealing rebounds on both ends while playing every second of these games. It’s been happening all series.
Josh Hart – 4 offensive rebounds, NONE of them simple. Each demonstrating extraordinary pursuit despite not sitting for a second of this game, leading directly to 8 NYK points.
That’s why Indiana is losing. It’s not because of bad calls. It’s not because of preferential treatment. It’s because they’re being outworked by a depleted Knicks team. They’re not defending well.
Officiating ain’t changing that. It has nothing to do with what market the Pacers play in. Indiana just needs to be better. Period.
Chill on Nikola Jokic
Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
To the apparent chagrin of so many NBA fans, Nikola Jokic was announced as the NBA’s MVP for the third time in four seasons on Wednesday.
Maybe it was just my Twitter algorithm algorithming, but there seemed to be so many people upset about Jokic winning this award. People were legitimately saying that Shai Gilgeious-Alexander was “robbed” here.
Shaquille O'Neal tells his "vice president of the Big Man Alliance" Nikola Jokic that he did not think The Joker should win his 3rd MVP this year pic.twitter.com/f5jAciL5Th
On one hand, I respect the fact that he told him to his face. On the other, way to stomp on a moment for the guy, Shaq.
Look, there’s nothing wrong with feeling like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander deserved the award. You can even feel he was incorrectly snubbed here. I might agree with you — he averaged 30.1 points per game on the best team in the West.
But Nikola Jokic nearly averaged a 25-point triple-double with a 65 percent true shooting mark. Their teams also have the same record — OKC holds the tiebreaker so it’s the No. 1 team in the West.
The overreaction has just been so ridiculous here. Part of it is because the Nuggets are down 2-0 to the Timberwolves. Another part of it is that people just seem to be tired of Jokic winning MVPs.
But the guy is that good, man. He deserved it. SGA would’ve, too. But nobody is served by people overreacting like this. Everyone needs to chill.
Champion’s League insanity
(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
Bayern Munich seemed to be headed for a shot at glory on Wednesday for most of its match against Real Madrid.
Bayern led 1-0 for 87 minutes until Joselu scored two straight goals in the 88th minute and 90+2 minutes of the game. It was unreal. The journeyman scored the two biggest goals of his career to send Madrid back to the Champions League final. It was insane.
It also wasn’t without controversy. Bayern had another shot to score and tie the game at 2-2 which would’ve sent it into extra time. Here’s Pro Soccer Wire’s Nick Wojton with more:
“Deep into stoppage time, and shortly after Real had staged a stunning comeback to take the lead, Bayern’s Matthijs de Ligt appeared to have equalize the game at 2-2.
That would have sent the dramatic semifinal to extra time, but a quick whistle from referee Szymon Marciniak ended the play, which might not have even been offside. Because of the fast stop, VAR was not allowed to review the play.
